1. Field of the Invention
The principles of the present invention relate generally to an improved data processing system, and in particular, to an improved document processing system. Still more particularly, the principles of the present invention relate to a method, apparatus, and computer usable program product for processing and using electronic documents.
2. Description of the Related Art
Businesses exchange electronic documents with each other in order to conduct business transactions. For example, such electronic documents may include requests for product information, orders for products, invoices for sold goods and services, shipping notice, and confirmation of orders received.
For these and other similar purposes, many business transactions rely on electronic documents that have been standardized, such as by a standard description to include in a specific transaction for a specific industry. American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has developed standards for electronic documents used in a variety of business transactions under a specification called the X.12 specification. Similarly, the United Nations has promulgated a different set of standards for electronic documents under a standard called the United Nations Electronic Data Interchange for Administration Commerce and Transport (UNEDIFACT or UN-EDIFACT).
Parties, such as business organizations, often develop their own proprietary standards for the electronic documents they exchange with other parties, such as their business partners. These proprietary standards include specifications for electronic documents that may be based on a standard, such as ANSI X.12 or UN-EDIFACT standard, or may be a completely proprietary design.
Electronic documents conforming to a particular standard are usually referred to as a document of that standard. For example, an X.12 document is an electronic document that conforms to X.12 standards.
Electronic documents generally include information organized in some structure. The organization of that structure may be specified by a standard, such as ANSI X.12. The organization of the structure may be specified in the document itself, such as an extensible markup language (XML) document.
Using X.12 documents as an example, the complete electronic document from start to finish is called a “document.” Within the organization of the document, data is organized in smaller organizations, called “segments.” A piece of data in a segment is called a “data element.” Within a segment, data elements are arranged in a variety of ways.
Data elements may be separated from each other by specialized characters called “delimiters.” Alternatively, data elements may be separated from each other by fixed lengths of the data elements themselves. Segments are also separated from each other by delimiters or fixed lengths of the segments, just as data elements.
Data elements can be grouped together to form “composite data” within a segment. Segments can be grouped together to form a “transaction” within the document. Occasionally, several documents can be grouped together to form a “file” in a data transmission.
Software applications are used to facilitate the exchange of electronic documents between parties. These software applications primarily ensure that an electronic document is communicated to and is understandable by the intended recipient of that document. Such software applications are available as software products that a party can acquire and use for their own electronic document needs. Third parties also provide services based on such software applications, and a patty can use such third-party services for exchanging electronic documents with another party.